Reviews by aanakinskywalker:

More User Reviews:

Totally clear brew with a lager like pale gold body. The foam is off white and very sudsy, leaving a thick collar on the edge with nice lacing.

Nose is slightly citrusy but mostly disappointing. There is a weak bread scent but it's just there plainly and nothing more.

Taste is just average if you ask me. This beer doesn't have anything bold that a double IPA should have. In fact it doesn't even have any strong Belgian characteristics other then a bold crisp Duvel like carbonation and peppery spice. Light lemony flavor with a touch of grain sweetness is about it.

The bitterness is the only thing that resembles a IIPA which is sharp and pointy. Not bad but not enough to make this a great beer. This beer takes the worst of Belgians and adds some hops to it. Weak on all fronts and not worth the trouble for just an average brew. (838 characters)

A - pours with a finger of very loose and bubbly mostly white colored foam. settles within a few minutes to a thin ring with random sparse lacing. the beer is clear with some sediment, darkish gold in color.

M - medium bodied but quite oily, syrupy for the style. carbonation is present but mostly stays out of the way. finishes coating, with lingering piney bitterness and alcohol.

D - impressive. a style i am really getting in to, this one earns an extra half point by calling itself a Belgian DIPA (love it) and pulling it off with big bold flavors and alcohol to boot. up there with the best Hoppin Frog has to offer. cheers! (1,033 characters)

Abbey Belgian-style DIPA pours a light gold color. It's shockingly clear and has an interesting copper tint to it. Where's the haze? I like haze in my Belgian IPAs. *sighs* A slightly off-white head tops it off nicely. It's nearly three fingers tall and takes quite a while to completely dissipate. Lacing was impressive. Very sticky and thick. Good overall.

The nose is interesting. It's good, but isn't Belgian-esque enough. Hops are at the forefront and are mostly citric in character. Grapefruit and orange scents are strong. There's a little pine there, but citrus notes mostly dominate. That part is good. Very good. The downside here is that there's very little Belgian yeast. I hope that's not true in the flavor. Pale malts are noted. There's a hint of sweet caramel, but not much. Alcohol doesn't seem too strong. I wouldn't have guessed 8.5%. It smells good, but for the style, it's pretty average. Above average seems fair.

The flavor profile is everything the nose suggested. Hops are very much the focal point of this beer. They have a nice citrusy flavor. Grapefruit and orange flavors are noted throughout. There's a touch of pine to round it out. Pale and caramel malts give it a really nice base, though the pale variety is much more apparent. I like those aspects of it. There's maybe a hint of Belgian yeast here, but not a great deal. A true Belgian IPA needs a lot more of that flavor. To be fair, this is a good beer. I like the flavor pretty well. But, for a Belgian IPA, it's just average. There's a spicy component to it that emerges late. It's subtle and I can't identify the individual spices. Alcohol is more prominent in flavor, but is blended well. Seems on par for an 8.5% abv beer. It finishes dry and a little bitter.

The body here is medium and it is rather smooth. It leans heavy with a little warming. Carbonation is light. It's nearly creamy, but not quite there. Drinkability is good. The overall flavor, despite my criticisms, is good. This is an enjoyable beer. It goes down easy and isn't too big in stature.

Abbey Belgian-style DIPA is an interesting beer. I like Hoppin' Frog's decision to leap into the Belgian territory. But, the final result is simply above average. There's just not enough of a "Belgian" character to it. A stronger Belgian yeast presence would right the ship. If you ignore the style classification, it is good beer. Perhaps very good. I've really enjoyed the bottle. Definitely pick one up if you run across it. It's an enjoyable beer, but not a top tier Belgian IPA. (2,539 characters)

Pours a hazed coppery apricot color, with at least 2 thick foamy fingers of off-white head. This retains with a nice looking robustness to it (around a full finger) and leaves back a ton of sticky spotty lacing. The aroma is floral, spicy, and pithy smelling, along with ripe fruit and malt sweetness across the back of the nose. The yeast really adds a little something extra here, with notes of soft fruit, earth, and spice.

The taste is bitter and leafy feeling with notes of grapefruit and rind. Softer fruit works itself in there, as does some sweet bready malts across the rear. Sharp earthy esters from the yeast ride the whole way through the profile and really comes out in the finish, along with dry bitterness and spice. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, maybe a touch fuller, with a more mellow creaminess that then gets crisper towards the back of the swallow. Any heavy warmth from the ABV is well hidden here, with just some heft to the feel and maybe a little extra sweetness from the alcohol.

Belgian IPAs can be hit or miss with me but this one luckily found its mark. The yeast really makes a difference here, adding an extra sticky and fruity complexity to this that I really enjoyed. A good one here from Hoppin' Frog. (1,288 characters)

A real nice orange and opaque body is poured hitting and producing an off white rocky head, with quite a good bit of retention here, not so uniform but got some good staying power.

Simple good nose on this. Nice hop and dry a little sense of almost strange funk oddly it seems (?), sweetness not noticeable but with a dense malt perhaps coming.

Palate hits with a real nice richness. Sweetness not expected also comes with a honey like malt backbone. Hop angle rushes nicely getting into sweet orange territory slightly, with an interesting milky finish. Lingering lime and citrus on the aftertaste mixing with Belgian sweet candy sugar goodness. Even some dank qualities as the beer warms up on the palate.

Real impressed with this one can't even taste the heat either, enjoying this one quite nicely. (850 characters)

hazy amber yellow with a huge three inch plus head of white foam. This reluctantly faded after a few minutes and left behind copious amounts of lace down the glass. Lots of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. The smell was very hoppy, which quite shocked me at first. There was the underlying base of yeast, and your typical tripel smell, but above that was this huge aroma of citrus hops, lots of orange peel and sweet tangerine aromas. Now this is what I'm talking about. The taste was superb. Lots of west coast hops in the back. Well forst great feel, smooth, light and great carbonation. Went down real easy and had the slightly fizzy feel that really makes the flavors pop. (698 characters)

Received this one from Samichlaus in a trade. I was pretty damn excited to try this one. Thanks, Tom!

A: A slightly viscous appearance as it leaves the bottle and cascades downward to my waiting tulip glass. The color is a deep amber. The head puffs up to about a half inch in thickness before rapidly subsiding to just a small blanket of white perched atop my beer. Lacing comes in thin delicate rings, while some stubborn gobs of bubbles hang on the sides of the glass as well.

S: Belgian yeasts and their accompanying spiced character hit my nose and delight my nostrils. The spiced background provided by the yeasts provides a nice building block on which to construct the rest of the aromatic profile. An enormous amount of hops must have been used in the creation of this beer. There is a great evidence of bitter citrus and piney hops from the first fermentation coupled with a more mellow floral cascade hop character from the secondary.

T: Grapefruit and a strong bitter taste of hops greet my tongue after teasing my senses while I was preparing for my first sip. Pine and the spicy yeasty character follow close behind the citrus. As I swirl this around, more mild citrusy notes of lemon and orange zest manage to get past the highly acidic grapefruity flavors. The only thing I wish I had seen more of here is the Belgian yeast and spiciness that comes with it.

M/D: Maybe a touch over-carbonated for a DIPA, but probably right on for a Belgian, so I can't decide how I want to rate this. The finish comes with a malty dryness that I was not expecting. The flavor profile is awesome, and there is a good depth to this beer. The alcohol is not pre-evident in any aspect. This is a good one to drink all by yourself, and it is equally good to share. (1,763 characters)

22 ounce bomber poured into a Unibroue tulip. Aroma is of pine, grapefruit and something I can't quite place. I assume it is a Belgian yeast giving off a sweet smell, maybe candi sugarish?. Taste seems more toward the double IPA taste versus a Belgian style double IPA. Alcohol taste is present but not as much as expected based on ABV. Nicely puckering with a bit of sweetness in the background for balance. My only complaint is that there seems to be some sort of medicinal (Robitussin? Aspirin?) taste that appears to negatively affect the overall taste of the beer that I can't seem to place to save my life. I put my tastebuds through a check and balance and they seem to be in line...I can't place this faint medicinal taste. Otherwise the beer is a very solid offering. (776 characters)

Shared with my buddy Aw Yeh. I got a lot of sediment from my aggressive pour, and he has no sign of any whatsoever.

Appearance - A very murky cloudy yellow that is reminiscent of Tang orange drink. Aw Yeh's pour looks much more appealing - with a pinkish amber color thriving with carbonation. A lot of yeast floating around the opaqueness colony living in my glass.

Taste - Alcohol is the icing on this bitterly sweet concoction. This beer took me quite bit of contemplation to finally come up with a final score. I feel like they should have removed the yeast from the brew a bit sooner than they did. The alcohol completely masks all other properties of this brew. The taste of clove sticks its nose out a bit more. The presence of hops is well-hidden.

Mouthfeel and Drinkability - There is a consistent, pleasant burning quality to the brew. Medium-bodied with tangy carbonation. One of the first Hoppin' Frogs that I haven't been too crazy about. (1,108 characters)